John 5:1-15
Some time later, Jesus went up to Jerusalem for a feast of the Jews. Now there is in Jerusalem near the Sheep Gate a pool, which in Aramaic is called Bethesda and which is surrounded by five covered colonnades. Here a great number of disabled people used to lie—the blind, the lame, the paralyzed. One who was there had been an invalid for thirty-eight years. When Jesus saw him lying there and learned that he had been in this condition for a long time, he asked him, "Do you want to get well?" "Sir," the invalid replied, "I have no one to help me into the pool when the water is stirred. While I am trying to get in, someone else goes down ahead of me." Then Jesus said to him, "Get up! Pick up your mat and walk." At once the man was cured; he picked up his mat and walked. The day on which this took place was a Sabbath, and so the Jews said to the man who had been healed, "It is the Sabbath; the law forbids you to carry your mat." But he replied, "The man who made me well said to me, ‘Pick up your mat and walk.’" So they asked him, "Who is this fellow who told you to pick it up and walk?" The man who was healed had no idea who it was, for Jesus had slipped away into the crowd that was there. Later Jesus found him at the temple and said to him, "See, you are well again. Stop sinning or something worse may happen to you." The man went away and told the Jews that it was Jesus who had made him well.
What is the overall point of this passage? How would you summarize it in a sentence or two?
How does it fit with the entire Gospel?
What does this story reveal about Jesus?
Why does Jesus ask the man if he wants to be healed?
What is the man’s response?
How does this story show that Jesus supercedes the Old Covenant?
What do you think God wants you to learn from this story?
What else is on your mind this week?
Sunday, May 25, 2008
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
7 comments:
This week’s story is really interesting. It’s going to end with the Jews persecuting and wanting to kill Jesus. We’ll talk about that next week.
The thing that strikes me immediately about this story is the question that Jesus asks this man.
Do you want to get well?
Do you think the emphasis is on the “want”?
It is my experience that you cannot truly help someone unless they want to be helped. Is that your experience?
Do you think that a lot of people are content in their misery? Do they derive some satisfaction from their dysfunctionality?
Do you think it is easier to just announce your faults and flaws and say, “That’s the way I am; love me anyway” than to seek transformation? Clearly we should love people as they are, but aren’t we try encourage people to be better? I like the old line:
God loves you as you are, but he loves you too much to leave you that way.
Do you think all of these thoughts are possibly related to this story? I’m not sure. I’m getting ready to dive into the text this morning, so I’ll let you know sometime soon.
I think people get stuck in their situation and don't know how to get out. The longer they are there the harder it is to help them.
It has been my great sorrow to help people that end up just using me. I still feel it is worth the effort to help, if I can help just one out of many tries I am satified. I haven't perfected bowing out gracefully, which causes me distress, but I don't think I will ever stop helping if I see a need. The older I get I have learned to not just jump in with both feet before putting some thought into how I can help.
I don't think anyone is content deep down. Some reasons may be things like grudges, fear or just plan ole depression. This is where being a Christian helps so much and I often wonder how people can live with out Jesus, who gives us such hope that we cannot stay stuck in the bad grove forever. And of course having other brothers and sisters in Christ to help us when we need it.
Annette
Some excellent points, Annette.
It is disappointing when people you try help don't respond with gratitude, but I always think of Jesus. People turned on him, and he tells that we should expect the same thing from time to time.
I am really pondering the idea of helping vs. enabling. How can we tell the difference? Does it go back to this question:
Do you want to get well?
In our story, does this man have faith?
He doesn't know the name of Jesus, and then once he finds out it seems that he turns Jesus in to the authorities. I am reading this wrong?
Is he an example of a person who does not move past the "sign" to see what it signifies?
I would love to hear your thoughts as I/we try figure this out.
A few more thoughts about the story:
This story challenges conventional thinking/understanding of how the world is ordered; it reveals the new “heavenly possibilities” that are made available in and through Jesus and his words.
“Do you want to be well?” does not equal “Why aren’t you in the pool?”
The man explains why his life cannot change.
Post a Comment